stephen korte's 3x3 - review

[mpetry]

korte's 3x3 is a powerlifting routine which is structure around the big three lifts three times a week each.

in weeks 1-4, you do 8x5 squats, 8x6 bench and 8x5 deadlifts each workout. weight is increased each week. in weeks 5-8, you do 2 heavy singles in one lift each day and then 3x3 or 5x4 lighter for the other two lifts. mouse has already done a review of the program here http://stronglifts.com/forum/stephan-korte-s-3x3-review-t19643.html and he's included the link to korte's original templates and articles. interested parties should take a look; the program is laid out in full detail.

before the program, my lifts were as follows:

squat: 1x3@225 (estimated 1RM of 238)
bench: 1x1@210
deadlift: 1x1@275

after just under 2 months, my new best lifts are:

squat: 1x1@275
bench: 1x1@225
deadlift: 1x1@315

these are supposed to be 95% of a `true 1RM' but I will be using these as my new 1RMs for my next program. this represents an increase of 37 lbs on the squat, 15 lbs on the bench and 40 lbs on the deadlift in two months. in addition, my form improved immensely in the squat and deadlift.

some thoughts on the program as a whole:

some people might get bored with three lifts for 24 straight workouts, but I didn't really. the only thing I wished went faster were the weight increases in the volume phase. once my body acclimated to the volume (first week), I was always itching to add 5 lbs to the 8x5's. the new weights are heavy on monday but quickly get lighter and easier by friday.

the intensity phase workouts are short by comparison. on mondays, I did 2 heavy deadlifts singles, 5x4@65% bench and 3x3@65% squats for example. these workouts were never boring since they changed each time.

during the volume phase, I could have probably used 9+ hours of sleep per night; most days I got 7. food was also a definitely a factor. I aimed for at least 250g of protein per day (sometimes 300+ if I could manage) at around 170lbs bodyweight.

the volume phase seems to encourage hypertrophy of the legs. my thighs have grown noticeably over the two months. I can also note some growth of the lower back muscles from the deadlifting (which I had only ever really done 1x5 once a week before). I haven't taken before and after measurements, but the difference is noticeable even to me (and I see my legs everyday).

SL 5x5 prepares you for squat volume, but not deadlift volume. that was the hardest part to get used to at first. when starting the program, you need to be committed mentally to grinding out those 24 sets per workout. if you are not and occasionally skim down to 6 sets per exercise, you won't get the full benefit of the volume work. korte's articles say 6 to 8 sets of 5 reps for the squat and deadlift and 6 to 8 sets of 6 reps for the bench. if you do the minimum, I don't know how well the program will work out.

bottom line: the program works. to improve your lifts, you should perform those lifts to nail down form and feel (as well as to get stronger overall).

I plan on running the program again in the coming year but I don't think four months straight would be a great idea. one of the program's shortfalls (for me, others may be different), is that the intensity phase kind of hits you out of nowhere. the first two weeks or so, the lifts are totally manageable, but the third week may be a 15lb jump from your previous PR and you've only done 4 singles of heavy squats in the past 1.5 months! I would not recommend someone new to the program making changes as it might work perfectly for you, but if I ran it again, I would probably increase the intensity of the volume week slightly and possibly ramp up the intensity week slower in order to better prepare for my maxes.

a note to self: for further cycles of korte's, get chalk. perhaps the single most damaging thing about the program was the havoc those 120 weekly deadlifts wrought on my hands.

[HOBEL]

think thats brutal should try radar peary's squat deadlift and power clean program. doing 65-75% 1rma @2x20 or 1x50.

i imagine you are extremely hungry on work out days? how has sleep been on this-sleeping sound or troubled sleep?

[Mouse]

Good write up.

perhaps the single most damaging thing about the program was the havoc those 120 weekly deadlifts wrought on my hands.

Still got my callouses and am proud of them.

[mpetry]

think thats brutal should try radar peary's squat deadlift and power clean program. doing 65-75% 1rma @2x20 or 1x50.

i imagine you are extremely hungry on work out days? how has sleep been on this-sleeping sound or troubled sleep?

that sounds like it might kill a person.

yeah I ate a lot. by my estimates, I put on ~15 pounds over the last 3 months; a little more than half of that seems to be lean mass.

sometimes sleeping didn't come easily, mostly because I'm a grad student and have to keep odd hours to keep up with homework and stuff. you need a lot of rest and food on this program

[mpetry]

Still got my callouses and am proud of them.

hell yeah. my hands are so much rougher than they were before.

[holvoetn]

Nice addition to Mouse's review !

Still got my callouses and am proud of them.

hell yeah. my hands are so much rougher than they were before.

Coan/Phillipi, anyone ?

[NewWorldMan]

korte's 3x3 is a powerlifting routine which is structure around the big three lifts three times a week each.

in weeks 1-4, you do 8x5 squats, 8x6 bench and 8x5 deadlifts each workout. weight is increased each week. in weeks 5-8, you do 2 heavy singles in one lift each day and then 3x3 or 5x4 lighter for the other two lifts. mouse has already done a review of the program here http://stronglifts.com/forum/stephan-korte-s-3x3-review-t19643.html and he's included the link to korte's original templates and articles. interested parties should take a look; the program is laid out in full detail.

before the program, my lifts were as follows:
squat: 1x3@225 (estimated 1RM of 238)
bench: 1x1@210
deadlift: 1x1@275

after just under 2 months, my new best lifts are:

squat: 1x1@275
bench: 1x1@225
deadlift: 1x1@315

.

Congratulations on your success. I wish I could say I had similar success on the Korte 3x3

My recollection is that after so many weeks at 64% of less, when it finally came time to hit the heavy weights I had not strength to move my old poundages, let alone newer, heaver weights.

From my old log,

"This week calls for max lifts at 85% of projected max.
1) Squats - warm-up 45x8;135x4;185x2;225x1
260x1;265x1 (these seem hard after not squatting over 205 for four weeks. Again, I'm not sold on this program. I was squatting 275x3 before this!)"

Not a knock on the program, just my experience with it.

[muddy]

Thanks for the write-up mpetry. Interesting feedback too, NewWorldMan. I was wondering about exactly that issue when looking at what the first 4 weeks would entail.

[mpetry]

korte's 3x3 is a powerlifting routine which is structure around the big three lifts three times a week each.

in weeks 1-4, you do 8x5 squats, 8x6 bench and 8x5 deadlifts each workout. weight is increased each week. in weeks 5-8, you do 2 heavy singles in one lift each day and then 3x3 or 5x4 lighter for the other two lifts. mouse has already done a review of the program here http://stronglifts.com/forum/stephan-korte-s-3x3-review-t19643.html and he's included the link to korte's original templates and articles. interested parties should take a look; the program is laid out in full detail.

before the program, my lifts were as follows:
squat: 1x3@225 (estimated 1RM of 238)
bench: 1x1@210
deadlift: 1x1@275

after just under 2 months, my new best lifts are:

squat: 1x1@275
bench: 1x1@225
deadlift: 1x1@315

.

Congratulations on your success. I wish I could say I had similar success on the Korte 3x3

My recollection is that after so many weeks at 64% of less, when it finally came time to hit the heavy weights I had not strength to move my old poundages, let alone newer, heaver weights.

From my old log,

"This week calls for max lifts at 85% of projected max.
1) Squats - warm-up 45x8;135x4;185x2;225x1
260x1;265x1 (these seem hard after not squatting over 205 for four weeks. Again, I'm not sold on this program. I was squatting 275x3 before this!)"

Not a knock on the program, just my experience with it.

I agree completely. this is what I feel is a downfall of the program, not enough heavy lifting in the first four weeks. however, I feel that it could be mitigated by aiming higher than you really expect to get. basically, just go with 58-64% weights that you feel will be a struggle but not impossible. in retrospect, I would have increased those weights as they were not too challenging by the end of the first four weeks.

[HOBEL]

i felt that way too. what i did was establish my balls to the wall 1x lift and subtracted 20-25% on weight for phase 1 and in phase 2 you try working 90-95% . remember Korte wrote down what worked for him-don't get too bent on poundages sets and reps-what worked and was most advantagious for him. PhaseI -volume volume volume Phase II- it'd be ok to hard intensity balls almost to the wall 1 set 3-5 reps.

mpetry -for you it sounds like i'd shorten the time period of phase 1. this way at phase 2 you wouldnt be over trained and going in reverse.

phase 1: -4 weeks and phase 2: 2-4 weeks and then 2 weeks off. this way depending on what you pick your doing your cycling either 8-10 weeks total and by week 9 or 11 your back at phase 1 starting off with higher poundages.

its just a thought...the best thing design something that works for you.

[Mouse]

Change the routine by all means.
But then it's not Korte's 3x3 - simple - but something one has made up.
Bear in mind Korte's 3x3 can be used as a year around routine:

Lifters keep on asking me the same question again and again:
How long can I use the 3x3 training system? My answer is always the same: the 3x3 training system can be used year round.

[HOBEL]

mouse, i agree that to change it it wouldnt be korte's. my argument was that ppl get hung up on the routine in its exact form. bare in my all these programs whether korte or reg parks or rippetoe's were many years of those lifters finding what worked best form them.
imo i believe you can alter minor dynamics of the program and still call it that program. granted 3x3 of situps pull ups and a duck walk would not constitute korte 3x3 program or doing burpees and jumpin jax and a log roll considered the bear complex. but tweaking poundages and number of weeks used in a phase does not kill korte's program as long as one adheres to the spirit of the program and the particular lifts used.

[ZigZag]

Nice review.
I completed 3x3 recently and added 30kg to my three lifts.

[HOBEL]

zigzag was that cycle 1 or did you do all the cycles-6 in all? see here: http://www.clutchfitness.com/forums/sho ... php?t=7817


i started cycle 1 phase one today.

cycles 2 thru 4 end up being single lifts and 5 and 6 are how to run the whole thing year round. right off the bat i dont see the benefit of doing single lifts for a full 8 weeks...? wouldnt your other lifts suffer-especially the last lift DL?you wouldnt train dl for 16 weeks?

and also to google 3x3--theres alot of different concepts of what 3x3 is. basically if you wanted to add ohp in place of bp to this every other week you have rippetoe. i know his was 3x5

[Mouse]

Hobel , I think you are confused as to how Korte's 3x3 works.
The link you give to the thread on Clutch Fitness links in turn to the DeepSquatter Archives.

Each Cycle of Korte lasts 8 weeks.
There are 52 weeks in the year so that gives you chance to run a full cycle (of 8 weeks) 6 times per year.

The cycle consists of the 3 chosen lifts (squat, bench and DL for competition) being carried out 3 times per week.

cycles 2 thru 4 end up being single lifts and 5 and 6 are how to run the whole thing year round. right off the bat i dont see the benefit of doing single lifts for a full 8 weeks...? wouldnt your other lifts suffer-especially the last lift DL?you wouldnt train dl for 16 weeks?

Parts 2, 3 and 4 from your link are simply a breakdown of how each lift looks during the 8 week cycle.
A cycle of 8 weeks includes all the lifts as described in Parts 2, 3 and 4.
That's why it is called 3x3 - 3 lifts 3 times a week.

This can be seen in the yearly plan - the first deals with January to July, and the second July to November - in total 6 cycles of 8 weeks.
If you look at the last 2 articles it shows 3 exercises, 3 times per week.

Don't confuse yourself.
If you are thinking "cycles 2 thru 4" are single lifts then you are very much misguided.
I don't know anyone who would recommend only doing a single lift for 8 weeks to the exclusion of everything else.